Jul 17 2007

Read (and eat and splash) your way around the Lower East Side

Things to do with kids: Read (and eat and splash) your way around the Lower East Side

Just walking around New York City can be a great experience for kids to learn about history, not just of New York, but American history as well; and there's no part of NYC more full of history and color for kids than the Lower East Side. Perhaps that's why it's been the inspiration for so many wonderful children's books. A walk around the Lower East Side brings some favorite children's books to life and, at the same time, brings the story of immigrants in America to life as well. Here's some wonderful children's books that you can read that will send you off on a great outing in the city with the kids to experience the history of immigrants in NYC first-hand while having fun, getting wet, and, most importantly, eating very well.

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Jul 16 2007

Read Your Way Around NYC

Summer and books just go together. Whether it's beach reading, summer reading lists, or those extra daylight hours, summer just seems like a good time to catch up on your reading. This week Mommy Poppins is going to help you turn your children's reading list into a week full of activities with a great idea that was suggested to me by our school Parent Coordinator, Laura.

Laura wrote a terrific article in our school newsletter about a book, Storied City: A Children's Book Walking-Tour Guide to New York City. It takes all the children's books that have been written about New York and connects them with the real life city. Talk about experiencing literature first hand. I love this idea.

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Jul 13 2007

NYC Parenting Blogger Round-up, Part 2

A bunch of NYC parenting bloggers got together the other night. It was fun to meet the real people behind the funny. MetroDad organized it (he is almost too nice. I don't know where that acerbic wit comes from) and I was honored to get to hang out with him and the other great bloggers present. Mom-101 has a terrific blog and I really admire her style. I also became acquainted with some other really funny NYC parenting blogs, Mr Nice Guy, CroutonBoy and Laid-Off Dad. Make sure to empty your bladder before reading any of these blogs, especially if you're a woman who's had at least one vaginal birth, if you know what I mean.

Here are some other NYC parenting blogs I've discovered since the last time I posted a list:

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Jul 11 2007

More Free Outdoor Movies for Kids and Families

BloggyMcBlogBlog has a theory that soon there will be so much scaffolding in Lower Manhattan that they will have to build scaffolding on top of the scaffolding and then there will be a war between the people who live below the scaffolding and those that live above it...

Likewise, I'm beginning to think that soon there will be so many outdoor movie festivals in NYC that people will no longer need televisions, we'll just watch giant projected entertainment from the comfort of our living rooms because every available surface in the city will have programming projected on it.

Not that I'm complaining. I love outdoor movies. And this new one that I discovered thanks to A Brooklyn Life is particularly good, especially for NYC families with kids.

The Red Hook Movies in the Parks series is playing a great batch of films every Thursday through August 16th and they're all kid-friendly, good movies, including Happy feet, Mad Hot Ballroom and Akeelah and the Bee.

The outdoor films are closing in...

 

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Jul 11 2007

For Downtown Art Camp Uptown Museums are the Big Draw

The much-beloved art teacher of Tribeca elementary, PS 150, is doing a special mini-art camp open to all downtown children aged 6-10. Andrea takes intimate groups of just six kids to visit NYC museums - MoMA, Guggenheim, Whitney, Metropolitan Museum - to view art, sketch and then picnic in Central Park.

Dates still available are: Mon.July 16, Tuesday,July 17, Wed,July 18; Tues July 24, Wed July 25, Thur July 26;Tuesday July 31; Wed Aug 1 and Thur Aug. 2. Kids can go to Andrea's Art Camp for one, two, or three days a week for just $50 a day.

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Jul 9 2007

NYC Summer Guide: A free kid activity for every day

I'm a week late on this and I've only done July so far, but here's an different idea of a NYC kid activity for every day of July. You'll find museum programs, concerts, festivals, story times, free movies, a fishing contest and more; all to help fill the hot New York summer days ahead. This Summer Guide should definitively answer the age-old question, "What should we do today?" for New York kids. Some of these activities require advance registration, so click the links and plan ahead. August is in the works. Enjoy.

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Jul 5 2007

Is it a pool or a beach? Either way, it's cool.

Have you heard about the brand new floating pool in Brooklyn Heights? They've docked a barge that's been retrofit with a 25 meter, 7 lane swimming pool right on the water in Brooklyn. There also a sandy beach area with pick-up volleyball and soccer games, a snack shack and umbrella rentals, which is good because when you arrive you are given a one-hour swimming slot (first come first served). After you get your time slot you can just hang on the beach until your time comes up. A little beach, a little pool.

I didn't include the new floating pool in my previous post about free pools because it hadn't opened yet and I wanted to find out more about it before I recommended it. I still haven't been to the floating pool since it opened yesterday, but at least now I can share with you some of the opinions that are circulating around.

Curbed has links to three reviews on mcbrooklyn, Brooklyn Heights Blog, and The New York Times. The overall takeaway? People are loving it and say it's the cleanest pool in NYC...and the water's really cold.

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Jul 5 2007

Top 5 Beaches Near NYC for a Family Daycation

Things to do with kids: Top 5 Beaches Near NYC for a Family Daycation

Putting together a NYC best beaches article was one of the hardest posts I've tried to do. For a city that you don't really associate with beaches at all, there sure are a lot of them—and a lot of great beaches too. But I am definitely very opinionated about beaches. In my opinion going to the beach should feel like a vacation, even if it's only a day trip. That's why my list of greatest beaches includes the NYC area beaches that balance these qualities best: beaches that are the most beautiful, have the best sand and waves, the most relaxing atmosphere, are easy to get to and the most the fun to visit.

See my favorite NYC beaches below. You can also check out some of our other beach lists like beaches you can get to by subway, Long Island beaches, Jersey Shore beaches, and private beach clubs. 

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